« September 2006 | Main | December 2006 »

November 28, 2006

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Pristine beaches, magnificent landmarks, whitewater rivers. “Find Yourself Here” is the slogan of the California Travel & Tourism Commission. But use the state's official web site and/or guidebook to plan your trip and you may find yourself staying at a Howard Johnson motel, an RV park, a B&B....because you didn't know about all the cool vacation homes for rent. That's right, vacation rentals are not even included among the “Accommodation Options”! What’s up with that?Because vacation home rentals are on the rise in California.

Results of a recent survey by the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) indicate that overall inventories of vacation rental homes managed by leading management firms across North America are expected to increase nearly 12% this year. That would make the second year of double-digit growth in this best-kept-secret category. (And apparently not worthy of even a blip on the state of California's radar.)

Lat year’s VRMA survey reported an increase of 12.73%. Bottom line: there’s been a significant two-year spike in the number of available rentals after five years of 7.3% average annual growth. Vacation rentals should be on everyone’s “accommodation options” list.    

And these numbers are just a whisper of the significant boom in vacation rental by owner properties. Just check out VRBO, Cyberrentals, PerfectPlaces, and on and on.

VRMA—the professional trade association for the vacation rental industry with membership across the most U.S. states, several Canadian provinces, Mexico and the Caribbean—has been tracking annual performance of the vacation rental industry among the leading vacation rental management companies for 30 straight years.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 02:26 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 21, 2006

MONOPOLY OR MARKET EVOLUTION?

Seems like yesterday that most Americans had only a passing knowledge—if that—of vacation rentals. This month, HomeAway has reported a record $160 million in venture funding and has succeeded in acquiring the last (and largest) hold-out vacation rental Web site, VRBO.

Oh, the times, they are a changin’…  But, for the better? 

Hard to say… While I’m all for getting out the good word on vacation rentals and heartily endorse more convenient and straightforward ways to shop for them, this makes me nervous. (Keep in mind: I’m reading Kurt Eichenwald’s Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, chronicling the Enron debacle, so big money and market takeovers make me queasy these days.)

 

Okay, let’s put things into perspective: HomeAway was founded barely a year ago! Now it is the self-proclaimed “world’s leader in online vacation rentals”—standing on the shoulders of pioneers like tne-year veteran VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) founded in 1996. VRBO was HomeAway’s largest competitor, representing nearly 65,000 properties worldwide.

 

How does that happen? Well, there’s an honor roll of half a dozen venture capital firms feeding the IV-drip to HomeAway (described in the press release as “the largest financing of an Internet software and services company in the U.S. in 2006, according to Standard & Poor's Capital IQ.”).

 

VRBO was a hold out.  But, money talks. I understand that. The use of “undisclosed terms” and overpolished marketing copy sets me on edge. You see, I’ve written marketing copy for 20 years. (Let’s just say, I know HOW the bodies are buried.) 

 

Putting that aside (and with the aid of simple math), HomeAway  now proffers 130,000 (nearly twice the previous number of) vacation rentals worldwide.

 

Poof! Just like that, you’ve got a mega-mall where a couple of well-run Mom & Pop shops used to be. HomeAway’s unpublished mantra: Today VRBO … tomorrow the world?

 

The real bottom line is: what’s in it for you? Is HomeAway truly more convenient as you search for the perfect rental. Are they service-oriented? Are listings accurate? Or would you prefer an independent opinion.

 

Why is that important? If you’ve been reading recent blog posts, you know that in addition to reviewing vacation rentals I review boutique hotels for a niche site called i-escape.com. I’ve been astonished at the inaccurate portrayal (published in major magazines including Travel + Leisure and Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel!) of some of the sites I visited just last month. Small, niche sites like i-escape often go out of their way to ensure accuracy. The larger the site, the more skeptical you should be. 

 

No secret by now: I’m skeptical of all of the hoo-ha about. Mainly because I firmly believe that mass-anything waters down the best of breed.

 

So I ask you (renters) – is HomeAway progress?  

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 12:23 PM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

November 17, 2006

IT REALLY IS THE JOURNEY

On a vacation rental owner’s recommendation, I did what I don’t usually think of: took the long way to the Sonoma coast from the forest pocket of Occidental.

To be honest, my natural impulse is to get there the quickest way. Yes, yes, I know, “The road less traveled.” Everybody talks about it. So, why do so few of us literally follow it?

This time I decided to follow Bittner Road away from town, I turned right on Joy Rd. (a good omen, I thought). Then I turned left on Coleman Valley Road.

This two-lane country road must have been an Indian trail or deer path. It had so many curves it forced me to slow down and enjoy the scenery. Coleman Valley Road took its own sweet time, winding through meadows that swept up to pine-ridged hills. I drove under canopies of valley oaks and finally did a freefall to Pacific. (My ears were popping!)

What a treat to turn off the radio during the trip and just listen to the thoughts in my own head. What a luxury to take twice the time getting there. Just because I could. Instead of suburban tracts and retail chains, I met dairy cows, goats, lambs and turkeys in full Thanksgiving fan. And realized that the “small” world” encompassed by a Sonoma Valley farm is larger and more “natural” than the insular suburban world I’m accustomed to.  

At the end, you decide: Turn left to Bodega Bay and right to more beaches,  Jenner and a side trip to Duncans Mills.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 01:58 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 03, 2006

RIGHT ON, READERS!

No surprise to me that San Francisco was nominated by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the best cities in the U.S. This blog has been something of an altar to my own favorite city since its launch. But the world is a big place ... and I just returned from another nominated city I now love: Buenos Aires. 

Hence the hiatus in blog entries. But I cannot get my head back into covering San Francisco and Northern Caifornia with Buenos Aires on my mind. As usual, Concierge offers a great online guide covering many of same sights and activities my husband and I loved. What a beautiful, life-loving, creative place. I would move there if it wasn't such a long trip.

Highlights:

-Digging into (but not finishing) a 20-ounce ribeye steak served with 14 hot and cold "sides" at La Cabrera in Palermo

- Watching tango in the streets at the San Telmo Antiques Fair. We saw some sexy performances. But I also loved the 80-year-old women tapping out remembered dance steps to the music and the pair of eight-year-olds carefully negotiating their way around Plaza Dorrego.  (My only regret: we didn't take a tango lesson ourselves.)

-Having coffee "on stage" at the mammoth El Ateneo bookstore, ensconced in beauitfully renovated theater.  

-Wandering the narrow paths in the Recoleta Cemetery

-Disovering I love the Argentinian painter Xul Solar at the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires/Colección Costantini)

-Discovering I really like morcilla (black pudding) at a traditional Argentinian asado (outdoor barbecue) 

-Trying a sip of mate from a traditional gourd. Almost everyone you see carries a gourd filled with yerba mate tea leaves and a thermos of hot water to replenish what they drink and share.  

In the words of our Scottish-born-Argentine cab driver who ferried us between Buenos Aires and the Pampas, "It's delicious!" 

All of it.


Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 01:13 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)